


Occam’s Razor

by bennettmp339



Series: Occam’s Razor [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alabama, Captain America Steve Rogers, Gen, MCU Kink Bingo, Modern Bucky Barnes, Tuscaloosa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 06:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16510943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennettmp339/pseuds/bennettmp339
Summary: Steve Rogers meets Bucky Barnes in the Target in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where they talk about home and baseball. There's no way Bucky doesn't know who he is, right?





	Occam’s Razor

**Author's Note:**

> This is for MCU Kink Bingo, bingo square I-3 (Identity Porn). Thanks to cryo-bucky and mortenavida for the prompt.

Occam’s Razor states that the simplest hypothesis, the one with the fewest assumptions or deductions, is the correct one. In retrospect, it should have been obvious. But really, who would possibly think that they would run into Captain America at the Target in Tuscaloosa, Alabama? 

It didn’t start in the Target in Tuscaloosa, Bucky was sure. He wasn’t sure where it started, but the punk with the Brooklyn accent had followed him through the store, sipping on his Starbucks Frappuccino, as they chatted about random shit and bitched about the weather - it was almost 100 F and the humidity was pushing 100%, too. It felt like trying to breathe pea soup. 

Bucky had let Steve follow him, since he was a reminder of his home of Brooklyn, and Steve seemed harmless enough, even for a guy as large and jacked as he was. He seemed lost more than anything and followed Bucky around the large store like a puppy, desperate for attention and love. 

It was nice to have someone to talk baseball with this deep in Alabama, where the Crimson Tide was everything, even though Steve didn’t seem to know about Jeter, Johnson, McGwire, Bonds, Pujols, Cal, Clemens, Chipper, Maddux, A-Rod, Smoltzie, Big Papi, Stanton, Trout, Harper, Verlander, or Ichiro. He spent a few minute complaining about the Dodgers and how they moved to California, before grumbling about the Mets. For someone with very strong opinions about the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn (and really, what Brooklynite _didn’t_?), he didn’t seem to realize that the Braves were now in Atlanta.

Bucky had wandered through the various departments, picking up the things on his list and a few things on sale. As he wasn’t looking at Steve, he missed his expression when he picked up a Captain America Moleskin from one sale rack and a set of fancy drafting pens from another. Steve trailed off for a moment, no longer bitching about astroturf and the designated hitter like a proper national league fan, before mentioning that he thought that he liked to draw. 

As Bucky picked up a set of curtains to keep the sun out, Steve wandered over to the section with the notebooks and caught back up with Bucky as he was adding another set of hangers, and two sets of small plastic boxes to his cart. There was the other Captain America Moleskin, a different Moleskin, and what looked like half of the so-called ‘art supplies’ available.

With a shrug, Bucky started into the grocery section, where he picked up most of the things he needed for the week, still listening to Steve grumble, this time about prices and, strangely, about how refrigeration was a good thing for milk. Bucky actually stopped and stared at him for a moment, before Steve shook his head and started talking trash about the Yankees. Again. Bucky remembers writing it off as jet lag or something, because Steve didn’t mention anything that odd again. He did put some apples and oranges into his basket (where he’d even found the small Target basket was unknown) with his art supplies, though he gave the bananas a betrayed look. 

Bucky rolled his cart through the medications and hygiene section, grabbing a stick of the deodorant he liked (he only bought women’s because they made an unscented version and his skin was very sensitive, okay?), and checking out the clearance section, grabbing a Target-brand headache medication, as well as a bottle of sunscreen. Steve seemed interested in the brightly-colored lipsticks, flushing as he picked one up and studied it. He dropped it like a hot potato when he saw Bucky looking at him, tensing as if expecting a blow of sorts, but relaxed when Bucky just shrugged and grabbed one of his own. Revlon mattes were on a very good sale and and a man couldn’t have too many lipsticks. He could always give it to one of his friends; the one who was a fan of wine-tinted matte lipsticks, anyway. 

After checking out the clothing and linens clearance racks, Bucky did a last check of his list and his cart, and decided he was done. He checked his watch, deciding to get lunch in town, before going to Publix to pick up the last few things he needed. 

Strangely, Steve didn’t follow him once they’d both checked out, though he looked as though he wanted to. He looked lost, and Bucky felt like he’d kicked a puppy, not inviting Steve to lunch with him. He didn’t know why he felt that way, as he didn’t even know the guy from Adam. If anything, he should be relieved that Steve didn’t follow him to his car or to the little Vietnamese restaurant, tucked into the hell that was the modern strip mall. Or back to his apartment across the river in Northport. 

Taking a deep breath, Bucky put Steve out of his mind as he put his groceries in the trunk of his beat-up Honda Civic, putting his milk and other cold things in the cooler he’d remembered to bring this time, and reorganized his reusable bags for a combination of optimum storage and weight. If he arranged them right, he wouldn’t need any plastic bags and he’d be able to carry his groceries up to his second-floor apartment with ease, even with leftovers from his lunch and after a stop at Publix. He saw Steve, who was leaning against what looked like a vintage motorcycle, all sleek black lines, glaring down at a smart phone in his hands. Bucky let his eyes linger, taking in Steve, and his resolve almost crumbled. 

Bucky took a deep breath, got into his car, turned up _Wrecking Ball_ , and put Steve out of his mind. It’s not like he would ever see the guy again? Right?

With Bruce Springsteen blasting from his stereo, Bucky pulled out of the Target parking lot and made his way over to Pho Town, going in the parking lot from behind and parking as close as he could (not very). He got his lunch, enjoyed it, and ordered a Thai Tea Bubble tea on his way out. He stuck his leftover pho in his cooler and headed across the river to Publix. Time to put as much distance between the university and the afternoon’s home football game and himself as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Steve thinks Bucky knows who he is; Bucky's just oblivious.


End file.
